Big ideas to expand downtown Shallotte

SHALLOTTE -- Like so many communities in our region, Shallotte is trying to control its destiny. Town leaders are calling on the citizens to tell them how they want their downtown to develop.
"It's a long time coming, Shallotte needs a face lift". Shallotte resident Debbie Dillard is eager to see more development downtown. "I think it would encourage future growth and encourage people to live in Shallotte I can't imagine why anyone would be against it".
The proposal suggests rezoning vacant lots in Shallotte's central business district for more commerical use and increase access to the waterfront. The plans have some residents wary.
"Until i have the facts and the figures and what the suggestions are I won't make a decision"
Louise Huntley moved from Washington D.C. to get out of the city. she's concerned the project will ruin Shallotte's small town feel. "I've been here for two years, I like it, I don't want it to change dramatically or I won't be happy"
Organizers were surprised by the large turnout. The citizens of Shallotte may be divided on how best to grow but they're very interested in their town's future.
January 23rd and 24th developers will present their designs of downtown at Shallotte Town Hall. The presentations will last from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

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I do hope the growth planned for this area will be done in a way that will not take away from the town appeal. So many places are hollow shells of main streets that are surrounded by miles of strip malls and Walmarts that have left whole towns for the want of decent roads to drive on.
Seems the residents of the Pender county community along the Blueberry Road area soon will have a major swelling of development. And some are not happy. Development there has given no thought to water resources & wells, downstream pollution, the Black River ecosystem, traffic, solid waste management, and what the developer is willing to do for the public services like schools and parks in the area. A whole lot of voters have signed the petition that was against this rezoning. Some county commissioners will be out of a job soon for not thinking ahead.

I recently moved from Holden Beach to South Carolina. Getting Married took me away, although we plan to move back there in a few years. :)
I was from Asheville, NC originally...now that place is ruined. I have been back to visit, and the air is so bad you could cut it with a knife. I lived there 49 years. It's now, too big, too dirty, too fast.
I have seen beauty destroyed.
I would like to see Shallotte's areas cleaned up, old buildings refurbished, Non smoking in restaurants, more sidewalks and parks of green for walking.
As a retired Nurse and still a "youthful" (51)person, I treasured the time I spent in the area of HB/Shallotte. I met alot of wonderful people, and still keep in touch.
I miss you, HB/Shallotte...I miss "Betty's"!!

The story should read:
Shallotte is the lastest small town in the sights of developers who intend to line their pockets while turning Southeastern North Carolina into Long Island II. Now that Wilmington, Hampstead, and a large portion of the Leland and Southport areas have been destroyed, many wonder how long the small town will retain any of the qualities that make it an enjoyable place to live.
Using innocuous terms such as "improving waterfront access" and "more commercial use," developers have been accused of actually erecting walls of McMansions to block water access to all but those who can afford it, while lining roads with small, micro-strip-mall shops that will sit empty most of the time.
Scientists blame the disease on two viruses. Arrogantus yankee-um, started spreading out from the Northeast in the early Seventies. Maryland had been destroyed by 1990, Virginia by 2004, and now the Carolinas are suffering.
The second virus, Greedus gooberus, combines with the first to sell out and destroy any semblance to small, rural America, replacing it with something resembling the true, natural beauty of East Meadow, Levvittown, or the Cross-Bronx Expressway.
Judging from history, opponents to the development will be well advised to flee, rather than waste their time complaining to suddenly deaf county supervisors and city councils.
About the author: Commonsensenotcommontoday left New York City in 1970 because it was such a hell-hole, and wandered into North Carolina three years later. He found paradise BUT, as opposed to more recent arrivals, never wanted to improve it, or "give it a face lift." He is constantly baffled by people who move here because it's "so nice, so peaceful, so inexpensive," and then vote for referendums and leaders (ha!) who are dedicated to destroy all the reasons they moved here.
Personal note - If I had known that two-million of you Vandals were going to follow me down here to sack Rome, I'd have kept on moving and likely be in Tierra del Fuego by now. Leave Shallotte alone!

I agreee with you 100%. Shalllotte should reamin the beautiful small town. I lived there most of my life, but even though I'm in Wilmington now (what I wouldn't give to move back) when ever I drive down US-17 there's always a new mini-mall, clear cut lots and million dollar developments! And now that the economy is down even more, no one can buy the houses that they destroyed all the beauty for. I mean, things happen for a reason. I don't see what was wrong with Shallotte before.

RE:COMMONSENSENOTCOMMONTODAY
AMEN. YOU SAID IT ALL. I HAVE LIVED HERE ALL MY LIFE, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING? ITS PERFECT. I LIVE ON OAK ISLAND NATIVE OF WINNABOW & WORK IN SUPPLY. OH HOW I WISHED THAT NO ONE KNEW ABOUT BRUNSWICK COUNTY AND IT WAS THE SAME AS IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS JUST A LITTLE GIRL. THOSE MEMORIES WILL BE WITH ME FOREVER, BUT DEVELOPERS THESE DAYS ARE TAKING MEMORIES LIKE I HAVE FROM MY CHILDHOOD FROM MY CHILDREN WITH ALL THE CRAZINESS & BUILDING. IT HAS GOT TO STOP SOMEWHERE BEFORE ANOTHER SMALL TOWN IS RUINED LIKE THOSE OF OAK ISLAND,SOUTHPORT & LELAND. PLEASE DON'T SCREW UP SHALLOTTE TOO.

I agree commonsense. I have never understood the whole idea of "oh this place is so peaceful...we just couldn't wait to move here" only to turn around and CHANGE everything. I guess being born and raised in the "slow" south,I don't understand the yankee way of thinking.
Your version of the article makes MUCH more sense!!

Since Commonsensenotcommontoday made here first he wants to be the one to put up the walls to keep everyone else out. Walls of complaining and statements against improvements do more harm than any physical walls of developers because he wants to stop American capitalism and leave everything "as is".
Yes Shallotte is a beautiful town but it does need plenty of improvements. People will continue to come to the area and yes many are from the US northeast. Why are so many yankees coming to this area? Because they can. Higher education standards in the northeast lead to better jobs; better jobs lead to competitive working environments; competitive working environments have led Americans to push the boundaries of innovation and that is why the USA is the world leader on so many levels. (A majority of the USA GDP comes from the northeast.) If the southeast can not keep up- like any area, business or team of any kind- it will be taken over by others.
If you want to make a difference educate, innovate and take action. That is what the people of Shallotte are trying to do. Why are they doing it now? Because many are originally from the northeast and their American spirit lives strong, just like Commonsensenotcommontoday did back in the 70's. I applaud the people of Shallotte in their efforts to move forward, embrace change and make the Shallotte area better for generations to come.

I AGREE. i am from this great town and we have managed to do just fine for alot of years without someone yankee or whatever he or she may be coming and trying to change our lifes. we do not need an overhall, a facelift or commercial chains that will put our locals out of business.

I AGREE. i am from this great town and we have managed to do just fine for alot of years without someone yankee or whatever he or she may be coming and trying to change our lifes. we do not need an overhall, a facelift or commercial chains that will put our locals out of business.

....I was born and raised up there. Anyone who has visited the Northeast knows that it's NOTHING to copy.
The rush hour stinks just as badly when you're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Market Street in Ogden, as when you're stuck on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Taxes that keep increasing because of ever-expanding local government sting just as badly in North Carolina as in New Jersey.
Odd, that you sing the praises of the Northeast, but you won't stay there! So this MUST be a "misery loves company" plot, because you're all so happy to get out of there, but then you start trying to make "here" just like "there."
The only thing Shallotte needs is less people....and maybe a couple of gas stations on the bypass, to make sure the Vandals can make it all the way to Myrtle Beach without running out of gas!
But no....Shallotte will probably be drawing up plans for a convention center soon.....or maybe a spur off that Raleigh to Wilmington light rail/bottomless money-pit they're talking about. No reason for Wilmington to hog all the red ink....growth, growth, growth, growth....it's ALL that matters.
Little did the Southerners realize that they'd face a second invasion that would make Sherman look like a cake-walk. He burned it all down but they re-built. They'll never be able to re-build a world that is vanishing right before their eyes.

i can take a long view of this i,m from a long way away but its a creeping virus of change and it very rarely is for the better except for the vested interest of the developers
Think long and hard about what you want of your town yours concerned des